The present invention relates to a method for the early diagnosis of cancer. In spite of the vast research and clinical effort which has been made in the past, in relation to investigation of the occurrence, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, many problems of an etiological and pathogenetic nature, and which bear on the identification, prevention and treatment of cancer, must be regarded as still in need of a solution.
However, it is generally agreed that early diagnosis of the disease is almost always a prerequisite of successful treatment. For example, the WHO Expert Committee's Report on Early Detection of Cancer (1969) stated that over half of cancer patients could have been cured if the disease had been detected at an early stage and treated soon after detection. In view of the widespread incidence of the disease, mass screening techniques would evidently be of great value, but have not been instituted on a worldwide basis up to the present time, such as is available for example, at least in developed countries, in the field of tuberculosis of the chest by means of mass X-ray examination.
Among previous proposals for the diagnosis of cancer may be mentioned the following. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,476,514, there was described a method of detecting cancer cells by staining test cells with acriflavine-HC1 solution, determining indirectly the dye absorbed by the test cells and comparing with a control. JP 54143528 proposed a method for diagnosing malignant tumors which utilized an injectable composition containing an endotoxin extracted from cultured bacteria. In GB 1587244, there was described inter alia, the use in a serum agglutination test on the sera of patients, for the detection of neoplasms, of an antigen produced by a species of the genus Streptococcus.
Bodily health is known to be affected by the nature of the intestinal flora, which apparently influences, for example, metabolic processes and both local and general body immune response. It has also been known for some time that certain of the intestinal flora bacteria of normal humans have oncolytic activity, and that there exists a relationship between intestinal microfloral composition and cancer morbidity, see e.g., Oleynik, S.F. and Panchishina, M.V., "About Coliflora and Cancerolycity and Carcinogenicity of the Intestine", Vrachebnoye-delo, 1968, 5:13-17. However, mere knowledge of a relationship between the intestinal microflora, the immune system and cancer has not resulted up to now in the development of a reliable method for the early diagnosis of cancer.